The pattern of settlement was predominantly one of widely dispersed villages; approximately two-thirds of the people lived in communities with less than 1,000 population. Only twelve cities had more than 10,000 population in 1969. The quadrangular area formed by the cities of Durres, Tirana, Elbasan, and Fier, all of which are linked by rail and roads, was experiencing the most rapid growth in the 1960s.
There was a very slight improvement in living standards from 1950 to 1970. Despite modest growth in the economy, the per capita gross national product (GNP) in 1967 was the lowest in Europe, an estimated United States equivalent of $320. The average citizen's welfare in the allocation of resources for food, consumers' goods, and housing was sacrificed to the development of industry and the program to achieve eventual self-sufficiency in agriculture. Reduction of disease and improved health were the most important gains countrywide. Also, by 1970 electricity had been extended to over two-thirds of all villages. Consistently high levels of population growth placed severe strains on available supplies of food, consumers' goods, housing, and services.
POPULATION
The total population in January 1970 was an increase of approximately 500,000 over the 1960 official census total of 1,626,315. The distribution by age groups in 1970 was: under fifteen years of age, 42 percent; fifteen to thirty-nine years, 37 percent; forty to sixty-four years, 16 percent; and sixty-five years and over, 5 percent. With almost 60 percent of its inhabitants under forty years of age and a median age of approximately nineteen years, the population was extremely youthful, and indications were that it would remain so into the 1970s. The proportion of persons in the dependent age groups, under fifteen and over sixty-four years, to the working age group, fifteen to sixty-four years, was 887 to 1,000.
The overall ratio of males to females, 106 to 100, was the highest among the Communist countries of East Europe. The preponderance of men was greatest at ages below forty; in the age group above sixty-four there were only 77 men to 100 women. The higher ratio of men for the total population was attributed in part to the high infant mortality rate among female infants, caused by neglect and the deference accorded to male progeny. Losses in World War II, an estimated 28,800 persons, or 2.48 percent of the population, had little influence on the ratio of males to females and the population structure.
In keeping with the traditional pattern of a highly dispersed population, the country remains predominantly rural. About two-thirds live in villages and in the countryside. Urban population increased from about one-fifth to one-third of the total during the 1950-70 period and would have increased to a greater extent had the government not taken measures, beginning in the mid-1960s, to build up agriculture and to restrict city growth. During the drive to reduce the number of people involved in administration and to increase production forces in the mid-1960s, thousands of persons living in the city, including some from the bureaucracy and the Party, were sent to the country.
Housing in the cities was greatly overcrowded, and the allocation of new dwellings built by state funds and controlled by the government provided further restrictions on city growth. Indications were that the expansion of industry would continue to require urban growth but that the rate of growth would be controlled. The largest cities and their populations in 1967 were: Tirana, 170,603; Durres, 80,066; Vlore, 57,745; Korce, 53,563; and Shkoder, 49,095.
The birth rate declined only slightly from 1950 to 1970 and in 1968 was 35.5 per 1,000 population (see table 3). Fertility continued at a high level, and there were no apparent influences that tended to reduce the prevailing rate of births. No information was published concerning the effects, if any, on the birth rate of women's employment outside the home, abortions, contraceptives, or other restraints on population growth.
The expansion of medical services and improvement in the standard of health during the 1950s and 1960s resulted in a marked decline in the mortality rate, from 14 per 1,000 in 1950 to 8 per 1,000 in 1968. The age structure of the population, with a preponderance in the lower age brackets, provided the potential for a continuing low mortality rate.
A concomitant of the reduced death rate was an increase in life expectancy. Data from domestic sources indicated that the average life expectancy at birth increased from 53.5 years in 1950 to 66.1 years in 1965.